Chapter 22 The First Signs of a Conspiracy Revealed on Jinjiang Literature City

Yao Sisi took out two small jars of fruit wine from her storage bag, seemingly not entirely satisfied. "This should be enough, right?"

Ri Jiu: "It's okay if it's not enough, we can drink some first."

Yao Sisi: "Okay! I'll go and camouflage the cave entrance first, so that no mystical beasts can break in."

Seeing her busy at the cave entrance, Ri Jiu set up a small table himself. He had been living here for some time and had specially made a tree stump as a table, which was very convenient to use. He obediently poured the wine, took a small sip, and found that it tasted pretty good.

Yao Sisi turned around and saw a glistening drop of liquid at the corner of his mouth. She asked, "How is it? Is it good?"

Ri Jiuzhong nodded repeatedly, squinting his eyes contentedly.

Yao Sisi: "Hehehe...Me too!"

She walked over, picked up the cup, took a sip, and her eyes lit up. "This is so delicious! The lingering fruity aroma is so refreshing!"

She downed the whole glass in one gulp, then took a big bite of the fragrant roasted meat. She felt as if her soul had been released, floating lightly as if she had ascended to a higher realm. This life was truly amazing.

"The fruit wine doesn't make you drunk at all, and it doesn't give you a headache at all."

Yao Sisi ate meat with a bite, drank wine with a sip, and downed another glass of fruit wine. She even felt that the barbecue was not as good as the alcohol, so she completely put down the barbecue and held the wine glass to drink. If you looked closely, her glass was already empty, but she was still drinking from thin air...

Before Ri Jiu had even finished her drink, her eyes went unfocused, as if she were sleepwalking.

"Huh? You haven't had too much to drink, have you?"

Yao Sisi didn't answer, but focused on drinking with gusto using her mind...

Ri Jiu took the wine glass from her hand, but her hand was still gripping it. Now, without the glass, she'd drink with her fist...

"Didn't you just say you could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk? How come you're like this after only two cups?"

He glanced at his bed, made the bed, and went back to her to pull her up, but she wouldn't budge; she was sitting very firmly. "Hmm? Why don't you go and rest?"

Yao Sisi narrowed her eyes, as if looking at someone. Ri Jiu waved his hand in front of her eyes, and with a thud, she fell directly onto the table. The sound was quite loud, making him feel sorry for her.

Ri Jiu exhaled, his fluffy ears drooped slightly, and his big tail stopped wagging. He had no choice but to wrap his tail around her waist and forcefully pull her onto the bed.

Good grief, he's already in bed, but his arm is still unconsciously holding up a glass...

He rubbed his forehead and said, "How did you get so drunk! You shouldn't drink with people anymore, or you'll get framed..." It seems I'll have to keep an eye on you from now on.

He pulled the blanket up to cover her, and seeing that the bed was too small for him to lie down, he transformed into his original form and jumped to the rabbit pile in the corner. A little white fox desperately squeezed into the gray rabbit pile, and perhaps because the explosive power of being on the verge of death was stronger, the rabbit, which was originally on the verge of death, kicked the little white fox with the force of an eagle, and the little white fox was kicked over.

Rijiu was momentarily dazed, then turned around angrily and bared its teeth at the rabbit pile.

The rabbits, however, seemed to have left their bodies and didn't react at all. Feeling awkward, it hopped onto the bed. "My benefactor said I can't hug her, or I'll be eaten. So I'll sleep next to her legs!"

He curled himself into a fluffy ball and rolled into the blankets. "Mmm, it's so warm to sleep with someone..."

The next morning, Yao Sisi woke up and before she could even react, she felt something soft and warm under her feet. Startled, she kicked it, sending the little fox flying.

Rijiu was kicked awake from its sleep. When it opened its eyes, it was faced with a gray-brown wall. It crashed heavily into it, saw stars, and slid down the wall in a "T" shape...

Yao Sisi was now fully awake. Seeing that she had kicked the little fox away, she quickly picked it up and rubbed its head.

Are you alright?

The little fox spoke in human language: "I'm fine, it's just... sob sob sob... the wall is so hard..."

Yao Sisi scratched her head apologetically, "How did you end up sleeping at my feet..."

The little fox covered its forehead with its two front paws, "There's no room in my bed, benefactor, please treat my illness instead of eating foxes..."

Yao Sisi: "..."

"you're right……"

She took out pain relief gel from her storage bag, and seeing that its fur made it inconvenient to apply the medicine, she said, "Change back to human form, and I'll apply the medicine for you."

The little fox tilted its head and obediently transformed into human form. He was very close to her, so close that it wasn't a safe distance. Yao Sisi looked at his forehead, which was already red and about to bleed. She knew how strong her own foot was, so she quickly poured the dew into her palm and used her fingers to gently rub it on his forehead.

"I won't kick you next time."

Ri Jiu nodded, remembering what they had just discussed, and said innocently, "The most important thing is that you quickly cure your fox-eating disease."

Yao Sisi: "..."

Well, it seems that one lie requires countless more to cover it up.

After applying the medicine, she realized that her actions were a bit ambiguous, so she quickly moved away. Ri Jiu sensitively sensed that she preferred the fox form, so she transformed back into her original form and cutely touched her forehead with her little paws.

"It's all inside the hair now, and I can't feel any pain anymore."

Seeing that he had turned back into a fox, Yao Sisi was indeed more willing to be close to him. "Keep this bottle of gel. It's for reducing swelling and relieving pain. It'll be convenient to use if you bump into something in the future."

"Hmm, I'll pack you some hemostatic powder too. It's very good quality and inexpensive. I bought a lot of it back then."

She took out several small bottles and handed them to him, which the little fox carefully put away. She was truly the first human to treat him so kindly...

He must repay his kindness!

Seeing how well-behaved it was, Yao Sisi reached out and stroked its fur, from its back to the base of its tail. The comfortable little fox squinted its eyes, wishing it could roll over and let her pet its belly.

In the quiet morning, Yao Sisi took out some food from her storage bag for him to eat, while she sat on the futon to study the array plate, with a book on array formations beside her.

She would glance at the book and then frown, thinking, "This is not easy to figure out!" At least she wouldn't be able to understand it anytime soon.

Little fox: "My benefactor! What are you doing?"

Yao Sisi didn't look at him, but instead raised the array plate to examine the crack. "Just call me Sisi, benefactor, benefactor is so strange."

Little Fox: "Sisi, do you want to repair the array plate?"

Yao Sisi said, "Yes, but I don't know how to fix it yet."

The little fox circled around her, saying, "Let me try, okay? Our branch has studied sealing and formations!"

Yao Sisi: "Hmm? Sure, but I only have this one array plate with this effect. If you think you can't fix it, that's fine too, just don't break it."

The little fox patted its chest: "Don't worry, I won't pretend if I can't fix it!"

Just as Ri Jiu was studying the array plate, a communication talisman flew in from the cave entrance. She reached out and caught it, and Qi Mu's message appeared before her eyes.

[The contract has been drafted and is ready for your return to discuss.]

"So fast! Little fox, I'll be going now. I'll come see you another day. If you need any materials, just tell me with a message talisman, and I'll definitely bring them to you next time."

The little fox had already transformed into human form, holding the array plate in both hands, and said, "You're leaving so soon after you arrived!"

Yao Sisi nodded: "Go back and sign a contract, and we'll be done in no time."

Ri Jiu's eyes lit up. "A contract? We can sign one too!"

Yao Sisi refused: "No need. I signed a cooperation agreement with him, which will automatically terminate after a while. We don't have any cooperation to do for the time being, so why sign this?"

Rijiu: "But once we sign the agreement, can't we cooperate with peace of mind?"

Yao Sisi: "Then we'll talk about it another day."

Ri Jiu compromised, "Alright then! I'll first look through what kind of long-term contracts exist in the inheritance."

As he flipped through the pages, he exclaimed, "Wow, I've noticed that only the Daoist Couple Contract is truly perfect!"

Yao Sisi stumbled; what was this little guy talking nonsense about...?

Ri Jiu frowned, her little fox face showing a human-like frustration, and she jumped up and down in anger, "The Daoist Couple Contract requires a hundred-year-old fox to learn, that's too much!"

Yao Sisi laughed, "Where is this excessive? I actually think it's a good thing. You really shouldn't learn the Daoist Contract too early. It shows that your ancestors had foresight. Experiencing this too early makes it easy to be deceived. It's better to have some experience."

Rijiu: "Would you lie to me too?"

Yao Sisi thought to herself: It's not like I haven't lied to you before; the part about being eaten was just a joke.

"I have no reason to lie to you about forming a Daoist partner contract."

Rijiu: "That works too!"

Yao Sisi: "But people who lie to you will say the same thing. Bad people don't wear their badness on their faces."

Ri Jiu: "I don't care about others, as long as you don't lie to me, that's enough!"

Yao Sisi: "..."

Why does he always use this kind of logic?

"I'm leaving now. You focus on your cultivation and take a look at the array plate for me."

She left some food for the little fox again, especially a lot of seasonings, and even left him dozens of Xuan Stones, fearing that his cultivation would be slow.

Ri Jiu was a little reluctant to part with her, so he transformed into a fox and tried to jump into her arms, but when he saw her frown, he could only circle around her, his big tail drooping in disappointment, looking dejected...

When Yao Sisi returned to her residence, it was still early. Qi Mu was waiting in the house and handed her the contract.

She glanced at the draft contract. "That's fine. I think it's okay."

Seeing that she had agreed, Qi Mu split the contract in two, which turned into a stream of light and entered the palms of the two women respectively. "Thank you for this, Miss. Do you have time? I'll take you somewhere."

Yao Sisi: "Since we have nothing else to do, it would be good to go out for a stroll with you, young master."

Qi Mu: "Let me take you to the estate to see the herbs! In the past, when distinguished guests came to our family, we would take them to admire them. Now that you and I have this matter, inviting you will also spread the word."

Yao Sisi: "I see, then I'll trouble you, young master!"

The manor that Qi Mu took her to happened to be the location of the Spirit Spring. To be honest, she didn't know what the Spirit Spring looked like, and there really weren't any books in the space that explained what a Spirit Spring was.

As she walked down this route, the spirit of the artifact became restless.

"Master, he actually took you to the Spirit Spring! You must find a chance to take the Spirit Spring with you!"

Yao Sisi sneered inwardly: "Who is the master, you or me?"

The spirit's words did not affect her. She and Qi Mu strolled around the manor, mainly looking at the rare herbs. Qi Mu explained the varieties of the herbs to her as they walked and stopped. They wandered among the herb fields, where the Xuan energy was abundant and the herbs were everywhere. From time to time, herbalists were tending to the herbs.

The two chatted and laughed, as if they were often being secretly observed. The two of them simply stood there and seemed like a match made in heaven, like a tender and affectionate painting.

Yao Sisi didn't intend to go towards the Spirit Spring. Even though she didn't know where the Spirit Spring was, she could roughly guess its location from the water flow. However, when she didn't go, Qi Mu took her hand and led her in that direction.

The moment the two held hands, she seemed to feel many eyes on her, as if she were being pricked by needles.

They got closer and closer to the spiritual spring, and the closer they got, the rarer the spiritual herbs became. Qi Mu was oblivious as he explained the spiritual herbs to her, while Yao Sisi was constantly on guard against the artifact spirit acting up.

They were getting closer and closer to the spiritual spring, and Qi Mu showed no sign of turning back. Yao Sisi even saw the gushing source of the spring water...

Just as she was about to pull him around, something burst out of the water and flew straight towards her. She paused, but Qi Mu didn't feel anything. He quickly asked her, "What's wrong?"

A jade talisman appeared in front of Yao Sisi, displaying several words.

"Your weapon spirit wants to kill you!"

After the writing finished flashing, it turned into a ray of light and disappeared.

Yao Sisi: "..."

She turned her head to look at Qi Mu and found that he was still oblivious. Just then, thick black smoke rose from the distance.

Qi Mu let go of her hand and planned to run towards the black smoke.

Yao Sisi's eyes flickered, as if she suspected something, but she smiled and took his hand in return, "Since you've decided to hold hands, how can you let go first?"

A note from the author:

----------------------